project // easy epp heart towel

When we found these pink towels at IKEA, it was decided that they would be a nice way to bring a bit of Valentine's Day to our towel rack, without spending too much. But just because they were pink, that didn't mean that they were as Valentine-y as they could be. So I set to work to add just a little something extra.

This adorable little heart fabric was in a pack of scraps that Nicole sent me last year, and I was excited to use it for this. Another option I considered (after I made these, of course) was to use a more solid fabric and then I could have stitched a face on the heart. There are still some unadorned towels, so maybe that will be what I do next!

Anyway, these are easy to make, and they don't just have to be for washcloths. Add hearts to your bath towels, kitchen towels, and really, just about anything you want!



Here's what you need:

A washcloth or towel
Fabric
Embroidery floss
Needle
Scissors
Iron
Pins

Jewel Templates

NOTE: Washing and drying the towel and fabric before you make this is a good idea, unless you're up for a wrinkly heart. And there's nothing wrong with that.



These hearts are made with just a bit of simple English paper piecing. Baste two jewel shapes, then stitch them together to form a heart.

Any size jewel will work, so long as both pieces are the same size. I used the smaller size in the template. You could even make several hearts in different sizes and scatter them about on your towels!



Iron the heart before you remove the papers, then again after you remove the papers. This helps the heart keep it's shape. There will also be a little tail at the point of the heart. Fold that behind and press it.

Pin the heart onto the corner of the towel (or wherever you'd like it).



With three strands of embroidery floss, stitch around the heart. When stitching on towels, the loops of the terry cloth will snag easily. Stitching with the sewing or rocking method (down and up in one stitch) will help prevent snagging.

Hide the knots between the heart and the towel.




And that's all there is to it! I made two of these in an afternoon, and I think I might make a few more. Yep, definitely need more of these...with faces this time. Sometimes it's the simple things that are the best.